Hard to believe

this year has almost come to an end. With that said I'm excited about the New Year to come. We are going to have many changes to 2007. Our oldest daughter Heather is getting ready to go into the Army reserves. She leaves on January 4th. We are going down on the 3rd to OKC to spend the last day with her. She is leaving behind her daughter (our grand daughter) Hayleigh, so we will be watching her until she gets back. I am going to be pulling mom duties again for a little one.

Another big change for us is my DH is in the process of finding a new job so we will be relocating to a new state. He has an interview in Texas and Ohio so far. I'm leaning towards Texas myself. I would be happy at either place. Being a military wife for 12 years I'm so use to relocating it's just another adventure. I have alot of wonderful friends I will be leaving behind here that I will truely miss. They are mostly scrapbooking buddies!

I've been thinking about my 2007 goals and I hope to get them listed by New Years. That way I can fall back on my blog to remind me of the goals I've set for myself.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Years!

Christmas Eve

is already here. I'm so blessed to have all my kids home except one. My oldest son is over in Korea and I truely miss him. I wish he could be here but I know he is doing well. We love you Adam! Happy Holidays to everyone!

I'm back with another son in the Army!

I'm so proud of both of my sons. Here's a photo of Alex from graduation today. He's all grown up...but still my baby!

All work and no play...

are pretty boring so tomorrow I'm going to the LSS and crop for the day. I have an album I need to get finished and two layouts for the Superbowl round at Memory Creators. I guess it's still work but I love this kind of work. Sitting down...running my mouth...and scrapbooking...how can that be work???

I'm getting very excited because next week we go pick up our son that has been away at Basic training and his AIT (Military training) for Enigineering. I'm so happy that he will be home before Christmas. He has been away for some time now...most of the year! He is at Ft. Leonardwood...we have been there for our oldest son's graduation. I loved it up there, very beautiful area. I hope it's not too cold or any snow while we are on the road. I love it...but I don't like driving out of town in it! Did I say how excited I am??? lol

This is Alex the day he left for Basic. I can't wait to see how much he has changed!

I'm working this week

for a friend that has a Organizational business and we have been so busy organizing this couples' house. I have not been around to play this week...but the extra Christmas money next week will be great. I hope to catch up with my usual blogs soons. Hope everyone has a great week!!!

Made it through the Draft

Round 1 at Memory Creators that is...not sure yet what we have to do for ROUND TWO – FIRST HALF. I'm in the contest with some familiar faces (Jessica and Kate) and some new faces. I'm having a blast and the gallery is just awesome...you should check it out! They have wonderful kits too. I get them every month and love them!

We'll I did not win

at Scraplove...but I did have a blast and got to know some great people there. It was very challenging and I hope to get another chance some day!

Congrats Kate and Em for winning!

I got to crop most of the weekend and I got most of my Christmas presents finished. I had a blast with my friends and eat to much junk food! All in all the weekend was great!

This is it...final round

at Scraplove. For the final round you have to do a LO of "10 things I love about me". We started with 63 people playing the game and now it's down to the final 11 with 2 slots for the Design Team. I've gain so much from this challenge. I've made some wonder friendships along the way...plus I've push my artistic abilities to the max. I've loved every challenge and whether or not I make the design team or not does not matter. I'm proud of the accomplishments along the way. Although...if I do make it that would be awesome too!



Here's my final LO for the Scraplove Survivor contest!




















Journaling reads:

10 things I love about me

I’m family oriented! I’m loving and giving to my family. I try to remember and tell my family I love them everyday.

I’m true to myself. If you want others to believe in you…you need to believe yourself. I may wish that I could change some cosmetic things in my life but I still love being me.

I enjoy laughter…Anyone that knows me knows I have a smile on my face. I would rather smile than be mad. I can’t stay mad long any way!

I dare to dream! Where would we be if we did not dream of better for our lives? I appreciate what Gods given me, but I dream of more for my life!

I live out loud. Life too short to not live life to it’s fullest. I enjoy life and live it with a purpose!
I usually have a positive attitude. I tell my children to see the glass half full instead of half empty. If life knocks me down…I pull myself up and try again.

I’m artistic. God has given me the gift of art and I love to create. It gives me purpose and joy!
I have faith. I believe that there is an after life. I put my faith in God and believe he will guide me.

I love being a grand mother. The circle of life is what it’s all about. I hope that they will see the wisdom and love in me that I have experienced from my grand parents.

I love being a wife. I might not always show it enough, but I love my husband and can not think of life without him.

TAG Your it!

tag your it!
I was tagged by the talented Kate, so here it goes...

A - Available or single: neither
B - Best Friend: Tina
C - Cake or Pie: cake...no pie...both!
D - Drink of choice: Coke
E - Essential Item you use everyday: deodrant :)
F - Favorite color: blue
G - Gummy Bears or worms: worms
H - Hometown: Charlotte
I - Indulgence: Krispy Kreme donuts
J - January or February: February ( my birthday)
K - Kids & Names: Adam, Heather, Alex, Jessica, and Kimberly
L - Life is Incomplete Without? family
M - Marriage Date: March 11, 1987
N - Number of Siblings:2 brothers (both older)
O - Oranges or Apples: oranges
P - Phobias or Fears: snakes
Q - Fave Quote: Live life as if it were your last!
R - Reason to Smile: why not? life's too short...
S - Season: Fall
T - Tag 3 or 4 people: Michelle, Jessica, Bethany, & Emily
U - Unknown Fact about Me: my weight...urgg
V- Vegetable You Don't Like: spinach...unless it's in a dip
W - Worst Habit: picking up after my kids when they should do it...that I'll just do it myself!
X - Xrays: long list!
Y - Your Fave Food: Popcorn shrimp
Z - Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

The Draft

Working on my LOs for the Draft at Memory Creators. We can not post our LOs online any where so I'll just give a peek at a couple of photos used for my LO. I also used the two pictures of Hayleigh below.

Wow...it's snowing...and snowing..and snowing

Yes, here in Oklahoma we are having a blizzard! Crazy but true! I've been sick but hope to get out long enough to get pictures tomorrow. I'm sure it will be beautiful in the morning. My daughter Kimi got these pictures of Hayleigh playing in the snow. Kimi is becoming a pretty good photographer! She has an eye for it!

Round # 7

I just finished my layout for Round # 7. This one was more close to heart than some of my other LOs I've done for the Scraplove contest. This is not a cute-girly one but very important to me. I hope the change up in my style can keep me going in the game. If not...I have this wonderful LO of my son Adam.

Journaling read:

I WISH

You didn’t have to go…
But I know why you have to leave, because Freedom isn’t free and as a soldier it’s your duty. I thank you and all the other service members for the sacrifice you give to our country for that freedom. As a former military wife and now a military mom I know that serving in the military is an honor. Thank you son.
I love you…Mom

Round #7

at Scraplove and Monica has an awesome challenge for us. We have to use "I wish..." in our layout. That's it...the rest is our design. I love it...complete freedom! She also has designed a great way to get some people voted off back in the game with a great little spreadsheet that keeps everything fair! She's the greatest!



I've already got an idea in my head and I know what pictures I'm going to use for this challenge. This is my oldest son, Adam who is stationed in Korea. I miss him all the time but even more during the holidays! So here's one of the pictures that I'm using for this challenge...


















My DH took this picture of Adam walking away at the airport. This is our young soldier becoming a man...this is his job, this is his adventure and he makes us proud! This brings tears to my eyes everytime I see it! I love you Adam...Mom

HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY

Doing the family thing today...cooking the turkey and all the goodies to go with it. We are missing our two sons today. Our oldest Adam is in Korea in the Army and our youngest is in Basic Training at Ft. Leonardwood. We love you and miss you!

I have been busy helping our local scrapbook store move to a bigger location. My two daughters also went over to help out. We plan on going back today to help them get finish because they open back up tomorrow.

I made round#7 at scraplove

but we are taking a week break for Thanksgiving! For round #7 the people voted out get a chance to get back in the game also. This has been a fun challenge and I'm loving it!


I also made the First Round at Superbowl of Scrapbooking at memorycreators (Draft), so I have two layouts to work on.

1. requirement is to use a transprency and some form of metal fastener on the first layout.

2. a sketch for the second layout.

I hope to get started on these this weekend when I'm finished with all the Thanksgiving cooking!

Here's our immunity challenge layout

Ok...Michelle (momof3crazies) and I are uploaded and officially in the running for the immunity challenge at scraplove. Here's what we came up with...we really worked well together!

My layout is the left side and Michelle did the right!

I'm cropping again!

Yes that's right. I'm cropping with a friend (Tina) for a couple of days. We have another friend (Megan) coming in from OKC to crop with us. The last time we spent the whole weekend at Megan's house. She lives on a lake and has a pool and we had an absolute blast...cropped very late, swam in her pool, and went to the LSS(s). Too bad this one is not all weekend, but I'm happy with whatever I can get! I'm not working on alot of layouts though because I have Christmas presents to get done. It will be here before I know it!!!

We (Michelle momof3crazies & myself) are getting very close to submitting our partnership challenge. We are putting the final touches on it and should be ready to submit very soon. I've already won because I gained a friendship out of it! Here's a sneak peek...

I made it to Round 6

Ye s I did it! I made it another round at scraplove. This week is a two part challenge. The first challenge (for me only) is a LO using a phrase that say me! Mine is "that's right cute!" It took me no time to figure that one out...lol So, here's my take on this challenge.

The second part is a partnership challenge, which I'm doing with an awesome scrapbook partner momof3crazies (Michelle), her blog. She's a very sweet person and this challenge has given me a chance to get to know her better. Thanks Michelle! We have a sketch to go by and we each have to take half of the sketch and create a LO that matches each other. It's more challenging than you would think, but we are having a blast! I will post our LO for that challenge soon.

More layouts

Well...I got to go cropping at the LSS yesterday and got some more layouts finished. I'm ready to submit my entries for a contest I'm in. I did not have to make all new layouts for this one but I went ahead and did all new ones any way. Here's the one I came up with.

I've been creating...

Journaling:

A daughter is a precious gift A blessing from above, She’s laughter, warmth and feminine charm; She’s thoughtfulness and love. A daughter brings a special joy That comes from deep inside, And as she grows to womanhood She fills your heart with pride. The love she gives so freely Is a rare and beautiful gift. She brings the sunshine right indoors And gives your heart a lift. With every busy, happy year She’s dearer than before, Through every stage… through every age, You love her more and more. -unknown































I just love how this one turned out. This is for the a contest I entered. I have to enter 4 LOs and here's two of them.



























I just finished up this LO for Scrapgoods. I'm up this month on the Design Team to create, so this is my first design. I still have two more to go.

I made it to Round 5

Journaling:

When we cherish time, we cherish the very soul of the world. --Flavia





(This is my CD music cover)














This is really starting to get hard! I hesitated before looking at the list this week and I'm sure next week we only get worst. I love it though. It really pushes you to do your very best. This round you have to do a layout from a music CD. After a lot of searching...here's what I came up with. Now, let's see if it's good enough to take me to the next round!

Made it to Round #4

at Scraplove. This was easy for me because we had a sketch Lo. For me it takes the guess work out of what is wanted. I love working with sketch LOs. Here's my take on it:

I got my goodie box in the mail for Scrapgoods. It's my month on the Design Team to make 3 LOs for the site. Oh...what goodies I got! I'll have to post a picture tomorrow to show off all the goodies. It has Bohemia pp, chalks, inks, stamps, ribbons, and more. I can't wait to play.

Halloween...what a long day!

Hayleigh has been a busy little girl these days. She did Hallozooween, daycare today, trick or treating at PawPaw's work, and in the neighborhood. Boy is she sleeping good tonight! She was a ladybug and a cute ladybug I must say! She had a friendly lion with her at Hallozooween. He's a cutie too.

Woohoo...I made it through another round at scraplove! For our next challenge we have a sketch. I love doing sketch LO! So, here's the sketch...

I'm off to CROP

all weekend with some friends. It's going to be a blast! I hope to get alot done, but I'll probably run my mouth more than I crop...lol

November Guest Designer?

I sent in this LO for the November Guest Designer at Susan's Scrap Shack . It's by invitation only so we'll see what happens. My LO was excepted as a finalist so here's keeping my fingers crossed!!!

I MADE THE NOVEMBER GUEST DESIGN TEAM! I'm looking forward to being a part of the design team for November. I can't wait to get a goodie box so I can create!

Round 3

I made it to round #3 at scraplove! For this challenge you have to use the word "knock" some where on your lO, so I went with the classic "knock...knock".

The challenges there have been awesome. I'm having a great time doing them! Here's keeping my fingers crossed that this LO will keep me going.

I've done it again...

I got more cute pictures of Hayleigh playing out in the front yard yesterday. Aunt Kimberly was also playing basketball with Hayleigh. I just had to share...

Round 2.
I made it through round 1 at Scraplove.com. I got to move on to round 2, which is to create a LO using the same maufacturer, but you can only use one of everything. So here's what I came up with. Keeping my fingers crossed!

This afternoon we are taking Hayleigh to her first pumpkin patch this year. There are several around here so we may have to go visiting them all. Fall is my favorite time of year! This one has rides so I think she is going to love it.

Fall pictures...

I did this layout for a Design Team contest I'm in for Scraplove.com. This was a fun ad layout. It just came together pretty fast. Love when they do that. The way this contest works is they vote someone off, so we'll see what happens. Keeping the fingers crossed!





I took Heather and Hayleigh to the park to get some fall pictures. We bought Hayleigh some small pumpkins and she loved them. They were small so she could hold them. She got tired pretty fast so I did not get as many pictures as I had hoped and got hardly any of Heather. We'll have to go back out soon and try for some more before it turns too cold.

Day At The ZOO

Went to lunch with DH, DD Heather and GD Hayleigh. After dropping PawPaw back off to work we went to the zoo. Hayleigh got to see a black bear, pink flamingos, the Rain Forest, a peacock, and visit the petting zoo. She went on the carousel ride, rode the train, and played in the park. Poor thing...fell sleep on the way home!

Ok, enough being depressed...life goes on. I went cropping yesterday for a few hours at the LSS. Never enough hours when I go there, so I'm going again on Friday. Kids are out of school, so no shuttling service...I'm off!!!

Nothing new today...did the usual running kids to and from place to place. I hope to work on some LOs tonight after dinner...speaking of dinner better get to it so I can play!

We'll today's the day!

We'll today's the day! Alex leaves today for OKC Meps station. We'll get to spend the afternoon with him. We're taking him to Brick Town in OKC. Then we'll see him the next morning where he will finish processing before he leaves out for Ft. Leonardwood. I'll have my box of tissues ready. The ride home is going to be so much fun!

Here's a picture of Alex holding Hayleigh while waiting at MEPS to ship off to Ft. Leonardwood.

Scrapbooking All Day!

I'm going scrapbooking all day with one of my best friends Tina. I hope to get alot done...but if not it will still be a blast!

This is Alex's last full day here and I'm not going to be here. It will be good...Charles (DH) and Alex are going to hang out and go to Hootiers for lunch. I'll have to get Charles to get a picture for me of Alex with all the girls.

This will be my first post. It's Friday and Charles (DH) had a day off work. It's been nice having him home for a change. We were supposed to go see our nephew (Mathew) graduate basic training (for the Army) today but he has three more weeks of PT training before he can graduate. He will go straight to his MOS training right after that so we'll miss out on seeing him this time. I wish him the best.

Our youngest son Alex is leaving on Monday for his basic training (Army also) at Ft. Leonardwood, aka ft. lost in the woods! I'm already starting to miss him. I'll need plenty of tissues and distractions next week. He will be gone for 15 weeks, I sure hope they go by fast! He's going into the reserves, so he will come back and start college in Oklahoma. Need tissues just talking about it!